Tales of the Void
by VampireHunterSephiroth200
Summary: Postgame crossover with Symphonia, Symphonia 2, Legendia, the Abyss, and Vesperia. Features and stars secondgeneration, OCs.
1. Author's Note

Ok, sorry for the long ass delay... I've had a buncha' shit happen in my personal life and I've been trying to revise the story as best I can... I've removed Phantasia from the equation and replaced it with Vesperia... Some of the pairings won't make sense but bear with me, this is a huge project for me and I'm doing the very best I can... I forgot to before so I better say it now, not that anyone pays attention to this part, but I own nothing of the Tales series... The Tales titles and all references to them, characters, locations, and worlds belong to Bandai-Namco... I apologize to Bandai-Namco for not including the disclaimer beforehand...


	2. The Oracle

In Iselia, the village of orcales, a young man named Michael had his head laid down on his desk. "Michael Irving, wake up!" the teacher yelled. All he did was mumble and continue his afternoon snooze. "Michael!" she yelled again. This time she slapped the back of his head with her ruler. Michael Irving at 17 years old had developed his father's study habits. His best friends Lita Castagnier and Victoria Aurion merely watched the spectacle. Lita let out a silent laugh, hoping the teacher couldn't hear her. Raine Aurion, the teacher, turned her back on the boy and began walking back to the front of the class. While her back was turned Michael shook his fist in anger at Lita. Victoria only let out a sigh. Being the teacher's daughter, she was blessed with her mother's beauty, grace, and intelligence, but her father's personality. Michael sat there in the classroom rubbing the back of his head waiting for class to be over. The bell rang letting everyone know it was time for class to end. Michael jumped out of his chair and would've been the first one to the door if not for an interruption. "Michael, I need to talk to you..." Raine told him calmly. "Crap!" he thought. In passing Lita gave him a look like, "See ya', wouldn't wanna' be ya'..." Michael sulked back to his desk. "I'm worried about you Michael, your grades are the worst of the entire class's, you come in late, and all you do is slack off... Are you not getting enough sleep at night?" The truth was that Michael had been, but he found school boring. He couldn't find the heart, or nerve, to tell his teacher what he really thought. Even his grandfather, Kratos, was afraid of Raine. Raine didn't need to hear his answer, she could see it in his eyes. Like father like son as the saying goes. "Very well," she sighed, "go on..." Michael let out a woop and ran off. "No running in the classroom" she called after him.

In the meantime Victoria was keeping a reluctant Lita waiting for Michael. `"Can we just go? Irving isn't coming..." she asked impaitiently. "No," the other replied. Michael practically burst out the door to the school. "Hi Victoria, hi mincemeat..." he told them. He said this meeting Victoria with a warm smile, but Lita on the other hand with a grin that said 'prepare to die'. "Mincemeat? That's a new one... Finally get up the balls to ask me out?" she said sounding full of herself. "Don't flatter yourself... You're not even attractive..." he replied. Victoria stood to the side of their arguement and sighed slapping her hand against her face. "Wha-what!?! Say that again!" Lita replied clearly in a rage. Michael opened his mouth to repeat his previous statement but Victoria interrupted. "Save it for the practice feild, you idiots..." she told them nonchalantly.

The practice field was actually a small stretch of field between Iselia and the beach. Michael Irving, Victoria Aurion, and Lita Castagnier often used this place as a way to train with their swords, all the while test their skills against each other. In terms of raw tactic Michael came out on top, in terms of raw power Lita, but when it came to effectively combining both in a combat setting Victoria could easily out-manuver both of them. Michael was a quick and steady swordfighter, using 2 swords in battle, he could easily bat around smaller enemies without having to resort to the use of artes. Lita was moreover a heavy swordfighter, her weapon of choice, a single broadsword, weighed her down considerably and made her very open to attacks if she couldn't learn to think on her feet. Victoria was probably the best balanced, she used a sword and a shield in battle and could use either one for effective offense or defense. The feild itself was where their parents would take them to train when they were younger. It was practically a warzone of destroyed practice dummies that would be patched back together and destroyed again. Being that she had recieved training as a healer as well, it sickened Victoria to see such a mess and imagine what the feild would look like should such brutality be unleashed on anything living. Still her father's words clung to her "It's good that you think of others, but you will need your swordskills when a time comes that you may be pressed into combat by circumstances." Deep down she knew her father was right. It frustrated her sometimes just how right her father could be sometimes.

Michael and Lita got into their positions on the training feild and drawing their swords. Michael his 2 from his sides and Lita hers from the back of her waist. Victoria stood off to the side and watched. She sighed to herself "Like father like son alright..." "Hey Vicky, get us started..." Lita called to her. Victoria hated being called that. "Fine, begin!" she called. She swore that if Michael didn't beat the tar out of Lita she would. Michael started the match the way he always did. "Demon Fang!" Lita was not going to just take it. "Demon Fang!" she cried back. The shockwaves collided kicking up a cloud of dust. Michael decided to play defense and wait til she got close enough to him. She realized this and began trying to cast a spell. "Not today...!" he growled as he charged in and smacked her with his swords. She tried to parry but he kept finding openings in her defense. "Beast!" he called. The impact of the blast sent her backwards but failed to knock her down. She had been stunned momentarily and could hardly focus. "Tiger Blade!" he shouted and her sword was dislodged from her hand. "Havok Strike!" she cried trying to get the upper hand but ultimately failing to do so.

The fight waged on as if it were a storm, and Michael had the upper hand. Michael had been trained since 5 by Lloyd Irving, his father. While Lita's father, Emil Castagnier, hadn't started her training until she was 7. It also didn't help that Michael was a year older than her. Victoria watched the spectacle with only half-interest. Until, that is, the presence of her other 2 "cousins" was felt from nearby. The twins jumped down from the tree they were standing in. "Hey Victoria, long time no see..." the girl said in an open and friendly voice. "Hey beautiful, miss me?" the boy replied in a pretentious and playful voice. "Miss you? The day that happens will be a cold day in hell..." Victoria replied to him. The girl laughed at her brother being shot down. "I see those 2 are at it again..." the girl said turning her attention to the fight. "Yeah, they're pretty hard-headed about their arguements..." Victoria sighed, "How's Uncle Sheena and Aunt Zelos?" "Mom and dad are alright, y'know they came to Iselia to visit too..." the girl replied. "I know Mika, I just find it a bit amusing how my dad deals with Aunt Zelos..." Victoria stated before giving the boy a nice clean cold cut. "Ow, I wasn't doing anything... What're ya' punchin' me for?" the boy whined. Victoria pointed her finger at him warningly. "Ryuu, didn't I tell you never to touch me?" she warned. Ryuu folded his arms and started to pout. "Oh pouting, that's real ninjalike..." Mika sighed. "Hey stooges, wrap it up... We've got company...!" she shouted to the other 2. Michael knocked the wooden broadsword from Lita's hands, gave her a body-blow to push her to the ground, and pointed one of the wooden katana he used at her neck.

Lita glared up at him but sighed and gave him a warm friendly smile. Michael put his swords and held out his hand to help her up. "I still can't beat you, can I?" she asked. "What do you expect? I use the Irving style, which is geared towards reflex and tactics... You use the heavy assault Ratatosk style..." he stated. She sighed again. "Are you 2 done arguing today?" Victoria asked. "Hey Lita, you're looking hot as ever..." Ryuu stated. Which in turn earned himself a slap from the girl. "You don't know when to quit do you...!?" she asked irritatedly. They passed through the town uneventfully and headed through Iselia Forest to Michael's house. "Dude, why do you live in the middle of a creepy old forest again?" Ryuu asked. "Because this is where dad wants to..." Michael replied. "It's fitting this place is just like your dad, old and creepy..." Lita quipped with a mocking smirk. "You're really askin' for it today..." he said warningly. The Irving house was just as Dirk had left it. Of course the house had been refurbished to be more accomidating to a small family of three. Michael was an only child; just him, his mother Colette, and his father Lloyd. The group walked in and were greeted by their parents, the small house was quite crowded with all of them. Michael stuttered a greeting to his parents realizing that he might be in trouble, what with his failing grades. He let out a silent sigh of relief when the subject wasn't brought up.

Before any of them could say anything Lloyd told them to have a seat. "Michael, we might be leaving soon..." Lloyd explained. "M-me too?" he asked tentatively. "No, we'll need you to stay..." Lloyd replied. "Dad...!" Michael tried to argue. "Please try to understand we can't allow you to be endangered..." Colette told him, resting a hand on Michael's shoulder. Michael couldn't understand why they would just up and leave. "It's the same for us... We can't say where we're going, so look after things while we gone..." Emil instructed Lita. " Why!?! Why can't we go...!?!" she shouted in a demanding voice. "Young lady! You show respect to your father and your elders!" Kratos yelled back. The former seraph had a way with children that made them do as he instructed. "Sorry kids, stay here and be good..." Zelos said with a goofy grin. "Your mother is staying behind to tend to you all..." Kratos informed them, indicating Raine. "Great... Martel only knows how many months I'll have to go eating culinary disasters..." Michael quipped. This earned him a hard smack on the back of the head. He rubbed the back of his head with closed eyes.

When he opened his eyes the world had gone silent, it was colorless and nothing moved. He looked around trying to place where he was. Suddenly he heard a woman's voice, a soft gentle voice. "Michael Irving..." it said. "Y-yes, that's me..." he stammered not knowing what to expect. "Very soon you shall embark on a quest to save this world... This quest shall be filled with peril and it will test the limits of all that you know and hold dear..." the voice explained. "Wha-wha? Wh-who are you...?" he asked. "Soon, you will know..." the voice told him. Before he knew it the world had gone back to normal, everyone around him was talking. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on. "Michael, are you alright?" Colette asked. "I-I'm fine mom..." he replied. She wasn't convinced, but decided not to pry.

A loud sound came from outside. Everyone rushed out to see an unknown monster trying to get into the fairly new basement. "It's after the sword!" Lloyd shouted. He wasted no time in returning to the house to grab his swords. The sword was the Eternal Sword, the key to controlling the world's mana and one of the four artifacts that mainted balance between the mystic energies that had suddenly collided 20 years ago when the current world was brought into existence. Michael and his friends attempted to engage the monster, but it merely swatted them off, took the sword, and ran off. Michael and his friends climbed to their feet and without waiting for their families ran after the creature. They had lost the monster and somehow wandered into the Triet Desert. "So this is what the Oracle meant..." Michael thought. "Let's go home..." Lita panted. "Anyone who wants to go is welcome to, but I have to retrieve my father's sword..." Michael stated determidly. "That's all well and good, but this is a desert... Overworking your body in this heat is asking for death..." Victoria stated plainly. Nightfall was approaching fast and the monsters would become more frequent and more aggressive so they headed for the oasis town.

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Well, hope you guys like the revisions as much as you liked the old story... I'm gonna' slow down on the story construction and hopefully speed up the writing process...


	3. The Triet Desert

Morning came and no matter how hard they tried the couldn't ignore the desert's heat. "Well at least it's the Triet Desert and not the Sands of Kogorh..." Victoria found herself thinking. The Sands of Kohorh would get unbearibly hot during the day and it was several times bigger than the Triet Desert. She knew that because Geography was one of her favorite subjects to study. She'd pour over maps and books about the subject for hours on days when it was raining too hard to train. She waited as paitiently as she could for the others to come out of the 2 rooms they had rented. After they had she approached Michael. "We have a problem..." she stated flatly. "Problem? Oh, what now, it's not like we don't already have enough of those..." he groaned. "Don't complain at least this one's easy to fix... It's about our weapons... You saw how ineffective against that beast our current weapons are... Say we run into something tougher..." she told him. Fortunately he seemed to agree, Michael could be hard-headed at times and definately was not one to start an arguement with. Although Lita Castagnier thought differently about that. "I think we should look at what Fortune's Market has..." he stated. "Fortune's Market?! Do you have any idea how expensive those weapons are...?!" Mika argued. "Well yeah, but if it's sold by Fortune's Market then it was made by the Soul Smiths..." he reasoned. "That's true, but what you're payin' is mostly shipping and guild expenses... Fortune's Market is a merchant guild that operates in just as many areas of the world as Lezarano Corporation..." Ryuu reasoned. Although an idiot Ryuu had incredible business sense.

They decided to raid the local blacksmith's shop and worry about Fortune's Market later. "Let's get outta' this desert..." Mika suggested. They came out and saw a man who resembled Lloyd dressed in a violet trench coat with the Brave Vesperia logo (AN: The symbol on Tales of Vesperia's title screen) on it. Michael approached him nervously. "Huh? Something wrong kid?" the man asked. Everything about this man reminded Michael of his father. "Who-who are you...?" Michael finally got the courage to ask. "Me? I'm Karol Mordio... And you are...?" he introduced. "Um Michael Irving..." the boy answered. "So you're Lloyd's kid huh? Me and your old man go back a ways... What're you doin' out here in Triet...?" he asked. "I'm chasing a monster that stole something important from my dad..." Michael explained. "Ah, I see... Well, good luck on your quest then... Hmm, I get the feeling you might wanna' check out the Legacy, it's stopped near Izlood for the time being..." the older man said, "I believe I saw a strange monster headed that way with something in it's mouth... I tried to chase it but it got away..." "The Legacy..." Michael thought, "A giant ship the size of a continent..." The ship was among one of the biggest mysteries in the world. First things first, getting to Izlood meant passing through the Ossa Trail. "Alright guys, let's get going..." he announced. "Wait a minute! You're just gonna' listen to what that guy said!?" Lita shouted. "Shut up, Lita, I'm not in the mood to argue it with you..." he retorted.

They started for the Ossa Trail. Getting out of the desert was nice, a cool mountain pass breeze felt refreashing, but there was no time to savor it. As they started climbing they came upon an aged mineshaft. The switch to open it was rusted and the "trapdoors" themselves had partially fallen off their hinges. Leaving the door open even if the switch had been rusted in the "closed" position. Ryuu and Mika stopped and stared at the old mineshaft. "This must be what mom meant when she said beware of holes..." Ryuu stated. "What's down there?" Mika asked. "An ancient mineshaft, probably closed up... We shouldn't concern ourselves with it... Let's continue on..." Victoria stated. "Hold up... I have an idea... I get the feeling this mineshaft leads to the other side of the trail... In fact I'm willing to bet on it!" Michael declaired confidently. No one felt like disagreeing. Michael being more impulsive than an angry iron eren decided it was time to move and jumped down the shaft without a second thought. "Com'n you guys, what's the hold up?!" he shouted. "Don't shout you'll cause a cave-in!" Victoria lectured before she herself jumped in. "Reackless idiot..." Lita sighed and jumped as well. Mika ended up knocking Ryuu down for another stupid comment. "And this must be what dad meant when he warned me of Violent Demonic Banshee Sisters..." he said riding to his feet. Mika slapped him. "You want me to slap you!?" she growled. "Why are you always saying things like that after you've already done it?" he whined. Victoria took point using a ball of mana that she had conjured to light their path.

Surprisingly, the mineshaft had not been boarded up on the other side wand the walked out into the open air. Michael looked up past the trees and saw that there was a tall spire-shaped mountain sticking out of what should've been the ocean. There were 2 more in the distance, but they couldn't be seen as clearly. "What is that!?" Lita asked in disbelief. "Com'n, even I know, that's the Legacy..." he announced proudly. They approached Izlood not noticing the ship had begun to move. As they entered town a panicked girl ran into Michael and he stumbled backwards and landed flat on his ass. "You're so graceful, Mike..." Lita quipped. "Shut it..." Michael retorted before going to help the newcomer up. "Are you ok...?" he asked her. "I'm fine..." she replied. "I'm Michael, Michael Irving and you?" he introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Irving... I'm Elsa Coolidge..." she introduced back. "Why did you call me by my last name?" he asked. "Maybe it's a custom on the Legacy... Or maybe she's from Godoria..." Victoria surmised. " Why woulf it matter if she were from Godoria?" he asked. "In Godoria, people refer to men by their surnames..." Victoria lectured. "That's correct, my mother is from Godoria, I myself have never been..." she told them, "My father has also been, he's a former Alliance Marine so he used to travel a lot..." "Speaking of traveling, it looks like we missed the Legacy... Those guys at the docks say it moves too fast to catch it..." Mika announced. "What am I gonna' do?" Elsa asked desperately. "We'll back track through the Triet Desert... There should be a shoreline on the south end that'll take us to Altamira, we should be able to hop a barge to Port-on-Rage from there... We'll get you home, I promise!" Michael told her with confidence. "You honostly want to track back through that hot sandy hellhole...?" Victoria asked incredulously. "The Sands of Kogorh is worse..." he repled, "And the Chesedonia Desert is much hotter..." "I recommend you all rest if you just came from the Triet Desert... Doubtless we have a long journey ahead of us, but if you aren't prepared we'll be easily overtaken..." Elsa reasoned. So the group rested and trusted Elsa to gather supplies.


	4. Boarding the Legacy

After resting a whole day, the group prepared to leave Izlood and cross back through the Ossa Trail. Knowing a day of desert travel was ahead of them they tried to think of ways to speed through it. "It looks like we don't have a choice..." Michael sighed, "We'll just have to make due..." The thought was unsettling, but it made since for them to keep talking to a bare minimum in order to conserve energy. "Are we gonna' make it?" Lita asked in a serious tone on their way back through the Ossa Trail. After all they couldn't take the Mine Shaft shortcut. The fall from the trapdoor entrance/exit was only about 16 feet, not enough to hurt someone, but enough to make climbing out through it impossible.

The trip back through the desert was going fine until they reached the Triet Oasis Town. That's when Michael saw Lloyd and the others talking to Karol. The man who resembled his father pointed in their direction. "Oh shit, we've been noticed..." Michael whispered in an urgent tone. "Michael Irving, where have you been!" his mother's angry voice called. Colette was a very even-tempered woman, getting her angry took a lot, but when she would get mad things got a little dicey. Michael's face took on a pale shade, if his mother was angry than his more tempermental father would be furious. Lloyd's expression was unreadible as he walked up to Michael. "I guess we can't stop you for the time... Maybe it's better this way... We have to go to Malkueth to take care of something on behalf of our friend, be careful on your travels..." he told them. He took a quick look at Michael's Mana Core. "The Spell Crest is half-worn..." he said. "What's the Spell Crest again?" Michael asked. "You don't know!" Victoria asked in a shocked tone. "It's the part of your Mana Core that allows you to understand and learn skills contained in weapons..." Karol explained, "It's a pretty important process and one that really frustrates my wife... But then that's the case with anything she doesn't understand..." "Be careful... If you start to feel sluggish, that means your Mana Core's overloaded... Until it "cools down" you'll have to avoid fighting for a while..." Lloyd explained. "If you wish to avoid overloading your Mana Cores or in one of your group's case Eres Core, rest periodically..." Kratos explained. "How did...?" Elsa started to ask. "By the way who is this?" Lloyd asked. " My name is Elsa Coolidge, sir..." she introduced bowing humbly. "Is your father Senel Coolidge?" he asked. "Yes, yes he is..." she replied. "I know your father, when you see him again tell him I said hi..." With that Lloyd and the others left, clearly Colette was still angry but didn't feel like arguing it with him. Michael stood there confused for the moment. "Hello? Anyone home in there?" Lita said waving her hand in front of his face. She looked into his ear. "Yup, empty just as I always thought..." she laughed. "You're lucky I'm too hot and tired to beat you..." he quipped before starting to the inn.

The remaining trek through the desert was short and soon they were edging alongside the cliffside as they made their way to Altamira by land. "This looks like a fun place to hang out..." Ryuu trialed off as he started to wander off into the tourist city. Mika smacked him upside his head and pulled him back by his ear. "Dumbass..." she quipped. Lita was mildly amused by this and Victoria just sighed. "Are they always like this, Irving?" Elsa asked turning to Michael. "Yeah and... I'm not sure how I feel about you referring to me by my last name..." he replied. "I'm sorry, this is how I was taught... It's respectful to refer to a male party by their surname..." she explained. "I know... It's just... Weird..." he replied. A new voice made it's presence known. "Michael, Victoria... What are you doing here?" the voice asked. The group turned to see a young girl with long pink braids and a blue dress with a hatchet hanging off her belt. Anyone could tell she had a smidget of elven blood in her and she wore a Mana Core just above her developing chest. "Alicia!" Michael yelped in surprise, "You always have a way of sneaking up on me..." "I knew she was there..." Victoria quipped. "You jumped too..." Lita said with a grin. "Who's this?" Elsa asked. "Oh right... Elsa Coolidge, this is Alicia Sage... She's mine and Victoria's cousin..." he explained. "I see... It's a pleasure to mee you..." she said bowing humbly. "The pleasure is mine..." Alicia said returning the gesture. "Wow Ali... Looks like you're gettin' cuter..." Ryuu started. "...Pancake time, Stalagmite!" Alicia half-shouted. Ryuu jumped back and squealed like a little piglet, but nothing came. Alicia and the others walked away laughing at him. "That wasn't funny!" he scolded, not that anyone present particularly cared. "So what're you doin' here, Ali?" Mika asked. "Nothing really... Dad's never home anymore and mom... I don't wanna' talk about it... I guess I'm running away..." she replied. "Why don't you come with us then? We're getting on board the Legacy..." Michael explained. "That was my plan to begin with..." Alicia replied cooly.

As they boarded the ferry to the Legacy each of them had different thoughts. Victoria entered a euphoric happy state because of the Legacy's historic importance. Lita's only thought was that she was finally getting away from her overprotective parents. Ryuu's perverted thought and action to grab Victoria's rear end was quelled by Mika. Elsa was relieved to be going home. Mika just sighed, she knew she would have to continually beat her idiot brother throughout the entire journey. Alicia was concerned with one of the Lazerano employees recognizing her, she had grown up with Regal as an uncle. Michael gazed off into the distance in what he judged to be the direction of Iselia, he had mixed feelings about leaving. "Are you homesick already, you brainless dolt?" Lita asked in a smart-alick tone. "Move along Lita, can't you see he's conflicted? Leave him alone..." Victoria lectured. She turned her attention to Michael. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Just fine... I just get the feeling there's more to this journey than what we see..." he replied. "More to this journey? Maybe... Who knows, I for one look forward to it... The whole world's been laid out in front of us... I think we should explore it... I would love to see everything that's out there... Maybe if we do we can understand ourselves better y'know?" she explained. Thinking about that Michael's thoughts for the future and general outlook became brighter. "Thanks Vicky..." he said. She smiled and patted his shoulder encouragingly. Perhaps in a way she knew just how long the journey would end up being.


End file.
